Collision
by someone-lost
Summary: There's only enough room in the Wasteland for one Lone Wanderer so why the hell are there three? Features three OC's from previous stories.
1. Two heads are better than one, right?

**Disclaimer: I do not own FallOut 3.**

As the minutes melted into hours, Tabitha slowly began to go insane.

"I have to get out of here," she muttered, blue eyes wildly searching every inch of the Preservation Shelter walls. "I have to get out of here!"

"Shut the hell up!" Bryan Wilks shouted from his spot on the floor. "Its only been a couple of hours so chill out!"

"You chill out! I'm too young to die!" The redhead wailed. "I haven't even had my first kiss yet! And that one time with Mac doesn't count damnit! Amata dared me to do it!"

"Your love life is fascinating but I don't see how it's going to help us."

"I should've screwed Butch's brains out when I had the chance!" Bryan's eye twitched.

"You're pathetic. Why I thought you could save my father was a mistake." Tabitha whirled around and shoved a finger into the young boy's chest.

"Oh, yeah? Let's see you take on nine of those Fire Ants! I dare you!" Bryan pushed her finger away.

"I'm an eight year old kid, lady. What the hell do you expect from me?"

"How about a little respect? I outta bend you over my knee right now and spank you!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Tabitha leapt at the boy and the two wrestled in the small space for several seconds before they both landed in a tangle of limbs on the floor.

"Get of me!" Bryan cried out. "You're too heavy!" Tabitha let the comment slide, but only because he had his foot dangerously close to her face and began the delicate process of extracting herself from the boy. _If he were a couple of years older… Yeah, like a decade you pervert. _

When they were finally free of each other Tabitha was a bit red in the face while Bryan just looked irritated.

"You're right," Tabitha whispered. "I am pathetic. I can't do anything right. Hell, I can't even find my own father so what the fuck made me think I could help you find yours?" She wiped at the tears gathering in her eyes and threw a forced smile at Bryan. "I'm sorry. Really."

"Its okay," he replied softly and shuffled a bit closer to lay a hesitant hand on her shoulder. "To be honest I-I don't think my dad's still alive. No," he said as Tabitha opened her mouth to protest. "I think I knew even before I left Grayditch, I could see it when my dad told me to run that he was saving me instead of himself. It was selfish of me to ask you to help me, even though you only did it for the money." He grinned at that. "I don't blame you. You probably already knew he wasn't alive when I asked. Only fair to get something in return."

"Rule number one in the Wastes: Don't do anything for free." The little boy nodded in agreement.

"So," he said after several seconds of silence. "You're looking for your dad too?"

Tabitha sighed. "Yeah."

"What happened?"

"It's a bit of a long story."

Bryan shrugged. "Not like we don't got time."

"Alright but, remember, you asked for it." Clearing her throat, she started from the beginning and left almost nothing out. She explained that her mother had died giving birth to her and that her father had to raise her alone while juggling his job as a doctor at the same time. She went through her childhood in explicit detail, talked about how she always felt like she was never fully accepted with her peers.

"Amata was different, though, she saw something that she liked in me and never let it go. Even though her father disapproved and he was the freaking Overseer. No one ever went up against him except for me a couple of times. I'll always remember the day my father and Jonas gave me an air rifle." Tabitha giggled. "I shot an eraser right at the Overseer's ass. Got clean up duty for a week, but man it was worth it!" Her cheerful smile melted away into a hateful sneer. "Should've beaten him with the stick he always had shoved up his ass. After what he did to Jonas…" She stared through the grimy walls of the Preservation Shelter and into a past memory. "I never knew how insane the Overseer was for power until the day my father escaped the Vault and Jonas was beaten to death for information that he took to the grave." It was then that Tabitha's tale took a turn for the unimaginable worst.

Reliving the nightmare of Amata waking her from sleep with the news of Jonas' death and her father's escape still haunted her dreams. "I had to avoid the Overseer's security and Radroaches that had infested the Vault's walkways. A man and his girlfriend were gunned down right in front of me when they did nothing but walk through a doorway. I can still here the woman's screams…" Then she had run into Amata being interrogated by her own father. Tabitha could still see the look of shock on Amata's face as one of his goons slammed a baton across her jaw as her father stood by with indifference.

The redhead's control had snapped at the absolute hurt in Amata's eyes and she had rushed in with no other thought than to get her best friend out of there. "I pressed the nose of the gun against the Overseer's temple and demanded that Amata be released and that I be able to leave the Vault. He refused both until I shot him in the foot, yeah," she grinned at Bryan's shocked look. "Amata wasn't too happy about that, but it distracted him enough that Amata and I were able to escape. He's not too creative with his passwords either, it was a piece of cake to hack into his office computer and find the Vault exit."

She paused a moment to stare in silence at her hands. She wouldn't tell Brian that she had almost given up when Amata told her she wouldn't follow her into the Wastes. Tabitha had begged and cried, but the stubborn little brunette wouldn't budge.

"This Vault needs me. My father needs me," Amata had said, her dark brown eyes desperately searching her friend's face. "Don't ask me to abandon them. Please."

"So you'd rather abandon your best friend?" The look of betrayal on her friend's face had Tabitha swearing, but she wouldn't take the words back. "Fine, whatever, have a nice life Amata." She had left Vault 101 and never looked back.

Bryan's voice broke through her memory. "So you just left?"

"Yeah, I just left."

"It must've been rough," Bryan sighed. "To come from somewhere like that and then suddenly have to survive out here."

Tabitha grinned. "Especially when eight year old kids pop up, screaming their head off, and demanding help."

"And look how great _that _turned out. I'da probably had more help from a blond."

"Hey! I bet a lot of guys would trade their mothers to be in your situation." Bryan threw her a look. "Well, maybe not your _exact _situation, but you know what I mean."

"Once again lady, I'm only eight, and right now all I wanna do is leave this place before my ninth birthday."

"You're right. Enough sitting on our asses swapping sob stories. Its time to get down to business."


	2. Bitter? Hardly

**Dislcaimer**: **I don't own FallOut 3. **

_"You killed him! I-I can't believe- Why would you do that?" _

_Sarah stared at Amata with cold eyes and a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. _

_"Your father deserved to die. He was a murderer and I enjoyed killing him." She didn't flinch as Amata slapped her hard across her face but the police baton in her hand ached to smash against the pretty brunette's head.. _

_"He wasn't perfect," Amata screamed, "But he was my father! The only person I had left! I thought you were my friend, and I thought you of all people would understand that!" _

_Sarah scoffed at that. "We were **never** friends Amata. The only thing keeping me from killing you right now is that handgun you seem to be pretty fond of." She motioned towards the gun Amagta held shakily and her smile widened. "How did it feel?" She purred and slowly began to inch forward until the nose of the 10mm poked against her Vault uniform. "To take that officer's life? To make the man who hit you go away?" _

_"Stay away! Just go! And don't come back!" Sarah smirked and sidestepped around Amata to head for the Vault exit. _

_"Believe me," she said. "I won't." _

Sarah lifted the bottle of vodka to her lips and took a long drink, head spinning as the burning alcohol slid down her throat. Simms had left Moriarty's bar some time ago with the claim that as both mayor and sheriff one of them had to be sober enough to still make relatively smart decisions. _Sure as hell isn't gonna be me. _

"You," she slurred and pointed a finger at the scared looking ghoul behind the counter. "Give me three more bottles of whatever the fuck this stuff is and put it on my tab."

"M-Mister Moriarty doesn't accept-"

"What he does and doesn't accept aren't of my concern."

"Aye, but they should be." Colin Moriarty emerged from his office, arms folded and a wide smirk pasted across his face. "How much 'as she had, Gob?"

"About 50 caps worth, Mister Moriarty." The ghoul grumbled. Moriarty nodded and leaned across the counter until he and the Lone Wanderer were almost nose to nose. "Now, listen here missy, I don't take kindly to those who run up a bill and refuse to pay so I suggest you lay down the caps and get the hell outta my bar before I toss you out myself."

"You know," Sarah began. "I don't like it when people get in my face. Especially when they smell worse than the alcohol they sell. So, _I_ suggest that you back the fuck off and give me what's mine before I cut your dick off." The older man paled when he felt the sharp side of a sword run tentatively down the skin of his neck. Cruel dark eyes stared into his own as he slowly moved back, the blade still roaming downwards, and put some distance between them.

"Gob you sorry piece of shit, get the lady what she asks and put it on 'er tab," he spat before stomping back into his office.

As Sarah stumbled from Moriarty's bar with three bottles of clear liquid hugged tightly to her body, she was unprepared for the blindingly bright sunlight that assaulted her eyes and brought back yet another memory of times long ago.

_"You're a perfectly healthy sixteen year old girl," her father said while moving the little flashlight away from her pupils. "Which means there is no excuse for not taking the G.O.A.T exam today." _

_"That test is rigged," Sarah fumed. "What's the point in taking it? I'm probably going to get trash shoveler or something stupid like that." James raised an eyebrow at his daughter's animosity._

_"As long as you don't fall asleep you should have no problem doing well on the G.O.A.T, sweetie. Please, take this test seriously." _

_"If you say so." _

_"Its not my call. Your sixteen now, so this year you take the G.O.A.T. Those are the rules." Her father sat beside her on the iron examination table and smiled slightly. "Come on, its not so bad. I'm sure you'll do fine." _

_Sarah glanced at her father, noticed the silver streaks in his dark hair and the lines under tired brown eyes. "Dad, what was mom like?" _

_"Your mother, she- she was beautiful. So full of life and ideas. Very much like yourself. Don't look at me like that." he admonished. "You have a brilliant mind and ideas that I'm sure could change the world if it weren't for being stuck inside of this Vault. With such narrow minded individuals and constant opression of the Overseer-" James halted in his speech and chuckled nervously. "Well, lets just say that you and your mother are both very much alike and completely different for several reasons. Now, off you go! The G.O.A.T isn't going to take itself." _

_Sarah nodded, contemplating her father's words and headed for her classroom. _

"Should've known he was going to bail," she muttered. "Why didn't I see it before?" Sarah staggered wherever her feet took her, swallowing mouthfuls of Vodka and snarling at anyone who got in her way. Only when she reached the gates of Megaton did she pause long enough for the metal gates to open before she shuffled through the gap and into the Wastes.

"Wecome to Megaton! The friendliest town around!" Deputy Weld recited.

"Friendliest town my ass," the Lone Wanderer muttered as she stumbled past the robot. "Nuclear apocalypse blows everyone to hell and back, but the damn robots are untouched. Fucking unbelievable..." She lifted the bottle once more to her lips, scowled when not a drop touched her tongue, and tossed it to the side. Uncapping a new bottle, the Vault Dweller stared desolately at the stretch of dirt and rocks laid out in front of her. Then, without any hesitation, she marched unsteadily into the Wastes with nothing more than the sword attached to her belt and meager supplies stored in her Pip-Boy 3000.


	3. Is this Hell?

Emily had died. The Capital Wasteland's Paladin, Vault Legend, and Hero of the Wastes could no longer protect the weak and innocent, but worse was the feeling of the most important people in her life not having a clue about it. Her father was God only knew where doing important science stuff that would save the world and a ten foot thick steel door separated her from her best friend Amata and Charon-

_Charon… _

What would he do? How would he feel? His contract was folded neatly in one of her pants pockets but would it have been destroyed by the blast? Her entire existence in the Wasteland had changed the day Emily had walked into the Ninth Circle and bought the wrinkled piece of paper that would forever connect her and the ghoul until the day she died. _Which, _she thought wryly, _I expected to be a bit further down the road. _

Grasping at fading memory of her last moments, she thought that he might have cried out for her just moments before she felt a searing heat and her body go airborne. She couldn't remember if she had lived long enough to feel the impact of her body meeting ground but she could vaguely remember seeing Charon's milky eyes staring into her own with an emotion she didn't recognize. Then there was darkness.

The relief started to settle in as the seconds passed. There would be no more blood or cruelty or despair. Emily would never have to worry about scavenging for supplies and running into a house full of blood and chopped up body parts. No more Raiders, Slavers or freaking Death Claws to watch out for either. _And I'll be able to see mom. _That was perhaps the best thought of all.

A dull ache in her chest started as the young girl imagined being welcomed into heaven by the woman who had given birth to her and had never met. But even the thought of finally meeting her mother couldn't drown out the pain that suddenly started to stab at her very being. Like that wasn't enough she also started to feel hot. _What's happening? _

Then the silence that had engulfed her was shattered and a bright light chased away the darkness. The fact that there wasn't any air in her lungs became painfully obvious and she choked a lungful of air and dirt like a fish out of water. The sound of what was possibly a breeze screamed through her eardrums. The pain coupled with the harsh sensations had bile rising up her throat.

When her stomach was empty Emily wiped the mess from her mouth with a shaky hand and slowly opened her blood shot eyes. She shut them immediately and her body braced as another wave of nausea rolled through her. Only when she was sure that her stomach had settled and she wouldn't be blinded by the sun did she carefully open her eyes. Dirt and rock surrounded her on all sides and the sky above was as blue as it got in the Wastes.

There were no Talon Company mercs and more importantly there was no six foot, red skinned ghoul to be seen. _Don't panic, _she thought and fought to remain calm. She blinked at the screen of he Pip Boy but her blue eyes were still a bit fuzzy and the bright green screen was blurred. Instead, she searched the surrounding area for any sign of disturbance but there was none. No bullet casings or explosion marks marred the Wasteland surface.

"Charon?" she called out but there was only silence.

Glancing down, she noted that her armor was shredded and dried splotches of blood covered what remained. Beneath the armor her skin was unmarked. "Impossible." She clearly remembered feeling the hot white pain of the metal shards cutting through her shoulders and legs. Even her guns were missing and, to her horror, so was Charon's contract.

Emily fell to her knees and this time she overturned every rock, dug through inches of dirt until she was sure that the folded paper wasn't anywhere within a ten foot radius. Then she panicked.

"Home," she muttered. "I have to go home!" She'd get more supplies then go looking for Charon. But when she tried to set a marker for Megaton the map turned blank. All of the places she had marked disappeared and the notes she had taken were missing except for her dad's recording. "No…" She shook her arm and slapped at it to get out any dirt but the only thing that came up was a blank map canvas and a blinking arrow that showed her location which was, to her Pip Boy, in the middle of no where.

It was too much. Losing Charon, losing his contract and now losing all of the information she had gathered throughout her time in the Wastes gone in the blink of an eye. Dots danced in front of her vision and in the back of her head she knew what was about to happen, but if blacking out had done it then maybe doing it again would reverse it. So she let herself go and fainted.

* * *

Sometime later (an hour if her Pip Boy was to be believed), she woke with the sun shinning down and the sound of gunfire in the distance. Emily scrambled to her feet, dirt clinging to her short brown hair and bolted without a second thought toward the noise. The light leather armor she wore let her be quick and practically noiseless except for the dirt that crunched beneath her feet and prayers she muttered. Her scrambled thoughts hoped that it was Charon but in the back of her mind she knew it couldn't be. The bursts of gunfire sounded like it came from a rifle; not the shotgun her friend carried.

She followed the gunfire and stopped dead on the border of a decrepit town. _Graditch…_She would never forget the first time she explored near the Super Duper Mart and a little boy begged her to help him. He had been crying and she didn't hesitate to help him find his father's body or figure out the source of the Fire Ants that had killed the town's residents. She'd even found the boy his aunt in Rivet City and escorted him personally to the inn keeper.

She was so lost in a distant memory that Emily didn't notice the gunfire getting closer or the voices that mixed with it until they were practically beneath her feet. It was the flaming red hair that caught her attention then the horde of creatures that followed her. Fire Ants…Her brown eyes widened as she counted them. Seven in all.

The woman's armor was too heavy. The coat she wore was like a sail and caught the small drift of wind, effectively slowing her down and whatever was on her back needed to be dropped. "She's not going to make it." Then, forgetting that she was both weaponless and partner less, she jumped the ten foot drop of the makeshift wall and landed behind the crowd of ants.

It was stupid and foolish but whenever someone was in trouble Emily felt compelled to help them. She had been like that in the Vault, always sticking up for Amata whenever she needed it but it had grown almost a thousand fold since then. When Emily found out that Moriarty had information about her dad, she never expected him to have her work for it. In her mind, the Wasteland was already hard enough so why wouldn't people want to help each other out? No way did she have the money he wanted and when she'd turned to the town's sheriff Simms he'd only turned the other cheek.

The pain she'd felt had been like nothing she'd ever experienced before. It was then that she'd promised herself that she'd never make anyone feel that way, ever. So even if the stranger with the red hair didn't ask for her help she didn't think twice about jumping to their rescue and possibly her own death.


End file.
